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Everyone knows about wagon trains. Later there were
stagecoaches. Later yet, there were trains. But in the mid-1850's, hundreds of pioneers walked from Iowa City, Iowa, to Salt Lake City, Utah, pulling simple wooden handcarts. On these
handcarts were tents and the necessities – plus a mere 17 pounds of worldly possessions.

The very early pioneers traveled ahead by horse-drawn wagon beginning in 1845. These were primarily pioneers who had been in this country a generation or two. Most already had two migrations under their belt. After immigrating to the United States, at some point
they migrated to Nauvoo, Illinois. Most had come from Kirtland, Ohio, and many had lived temporarily in Missouri before coming back east to Nauvoo, Illinois. With literal horsepower to carry the load, the luggage restrictions on those pioneers were not so severe.

The later pioneers were new immigrants to the United States,
literally having just set foot on North American soil mere weeks before they joined the handcart companies. They had no horses or wagons and very little money. Many arrived through the courtesy of the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company who paid their passage.

The first two handcart companies came to this country aboard the ships the Enoch Train and the S. Curling. The travelers on just these first two ships arrived from numerous countries and spoke a variety of languages:

England

2611

Scotland

367

Wales

667

Ireland

54

Channel Islands

9

Denmark

502

Sweden

67

Norway

46

Swiss Cantons

19

Italy

31

East India

2

Germany

1

If you are
researching someone from one of the handcart company countries of origin who
appears to have vanished, consider checking the handcart companies. They might
have migrated to Utah.

In comparison to
most immigrants to the New World, these particular individuals had an easy time
of it – well, during the early part of their journey anyway! They sailed
shortly after new regulations were in place requiring ships to supply them with
sufficient food, water and medical supplies. Plus, they had the Mormon
missionaries watching over their health and welfare.

After these
immigrants disembarked, they took the train from Boston to New York City
before riding the rails west to Iowa City, Iowa. Unlike the vast majority of
pioneers, these immigrants did not have to make the journey across nearly half
the country by way of horse-and-wagon along a dusty trail.

It was not until
they arrived in Iowa City that the hard part of the journey would begin. Handcarts
were ready and waiting for them – but they were not fully loaded yet. That
first leg of the journey was through settled country where supplies were
available. So the load was kept a bit lighter since the handcart companies
could buy food from settlements they passed.

The handcart
companies would walk 178 miles from Iowa City to Florence before fully loading
their wagons. I recall in the late 1980's when I was living in Charleston,
Illinois. I met some political science graduate students from Manchester,
England, who were so excited to be in Charleston. In this enlightened day and
age, these bright graduate students thought they could take a bus to Chicago's
Loop for the afternoon. They truly had no concept how vastly huge this country
is – and that it is a three hour drive.

No doubt, the pioneers had similar misconceptions. Several
times I have taken the train from Boston to Coles County, Illinois. Even with
today's high-speed Amtrak trains, it feels like you have surely crossed the
entire country by the time you set foot on the platform in Mattoon, Illinois. In fact, it is 1,084 miles – less than
half the distance to Salt Lake City.

Granted, many of the immigrants were leaving behind an
impoverished Europe. But, did they really understand how far they were going to
walk, some 1,300 miles, while pulling a 400 pound cart by day and sleeping on
the ground every night once they got off that train?

By the time the
handcart companies left Florence, Iowa, they would be walking beyond the
settlements and into the true West. They had no choice but to take flour and
other staples with them, even though they hunted buffalo and other game along
the way. There would be few places to shop, if any at all.

As men, women and children were pulling and pushing the
handcarts, they had to keep the load light. Each person was restricted to 17
pounds of personal items.

The option of paying extra for the privilege of taking
heavier luggage did not exist. There is at least one account of a woman tying
personal items to her apron strings and taking them anyway. Other people
reportedly donned every article of clothing they could. Apparently as long as
the items were not on the cart, that was allowed.

Knowing some people were trying to get around the rules, personal
items on the carts were weighed again a couple of days into the journey. If a
person's items exceeded 17 pounds, the handcart pioneers had to discard items
until they were within the weight limit – or, at least, get them off the cart.

The guides knew what the immigrants did not: they had to
walk across the Rocky Mountains. Pulling a handcart across the flat plains
states was hard enough. But, pulling a handcart across the Rockies was not
going to be an easy stroll.

Pulling a loaded cart without protection from the elements
had to have been beyond difficult. Their motivation came from the belief that they
were walking toward Zion and that God would protect them. An entire body of songs came out of this period of
history, songs written and sung by the handcart immigrants, that
helped encourage them to keep walking.

Possibly unlike any other group of pioneers crossing North
America at that time, they also had other pioneers looking after them. Wagon
trains with food and other supplies met up with the handcart companies to
replenish their supplies en route to Zion, or Utah. There were also frequent
newspaper accounts of their progress.

The Willie and
Martin Handcart Companies starting their journey too late in the
season. They were overcome by winter weather and were in dire need of rescue. Mormon
pioneers went looking for them and did, in fact, rescue most of the party.
There is a website commemorating this remarkable rescue at Mormon Handcart Companies.

To learn more about the handcarts, read "Handcarts to Zion," by Le
Roy Reuben Hafen and Ann W. Hafen. This
book includes a detailed list of each person, their age and their relationships
for the ten handcart companies that made this remarkable journey on foot.

The next time
you are frustrated about luggage weight restrictions, think of the Handcart
Companies.

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